The Night Bird: A Myth
Charles Kingsley 1819 – 1875
A floating, a floating
Across the sleeping sea,
All night I heard a singing bird
Upon the topmost tree.
'Oh came you off the isles of Greece,
Or off the banks of Seine;
Or off some tree in forests free,
Which fringe the western main?'
'I came not off the old world
Nor yet from off the new-
But I am one of the birds of God
Which sing the whole night through.'
'Oh sing, and wake the dawning-
Oh whistle for the wind;
The night is long, the current strong,
My boat it lags behind.'
'The current sweeps the old world,
The current sweeps the new;
The wind will blow, the dawn will glow
Ere thou hast sailed them through.'
Eversley, 1848.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 01, 2023
- 37 sec read
- 252 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABXB XBBX CDXD AEXE CDXD |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 623 |
Words | 129 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
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